Leptepania okunevi (Shabliovsky, 1936)

Karpiński, Lech, Enkhnasan, Davaadorj, Boldgiv, Bazartseren, Kruszelnicki, Lech, Iderzorig, Badamnyambuu, Gantulga, Temerlen, Dorjsuren, Altanchimeg & Szczepański, Wojciech T., 2021, Longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) of southeastern Mongolia with particular emphasis on the genus Anoplistes Audinet-Serville, 1833 (Cerambycinae: Trachyderini), Zootaxa 5081 (4), pp. 451-482 : 460

Leptepania okunevi (Shabliovsky, 1936)

Literature data. Sükhbaatar: 12 km SW of Dariganga [Даригангa], Moltsog-Els [ур. Молцог-Элс] [ca. 45.437, 114.139], in Ulmus pumila , 17.07.1976, 2 ♂♂, 4 ♀♀ ( Namhaidorzh 1979) .

Remarks. Leptepania okunevi is known from the territory of the Russian Far East and Mongolia ( Danilevsky 2020).

The first and probably the only record from Mongolia was published by Namhaidorzh (1979). In the same work, he transferred this species from the genus Molorchinus Shabliovsky, 1936 to Leptepania Heller, 1924 (at the same time synonymising the genus Molorchinus), in which it is currently placed, and designated a specimen from Iman (currently Dalnerechensk, Russia) as a lectotype. In turn, Danilevsky (1993) proposed the synonymisation of Molorchus incognitus Cherepanov 1975 after studying of the type specimens of both taxa.

According to Cherepanov (1990a), where this taxon is presented as M. incognitus , the discussed species is associated with deciduous vegetation. The adults, which are rarely observed on flowers, are active from June and disappear by mid-August. Females lay eggs in bark crevices of thin shoots 0.6 to 1.5 cm in diameter. Pupation of larvae was observed mainly in June, while emergence of imagines from wood in the end of June and in July. Leptepania okunevi attacks desiccated but sometimes still viable twigs of Salix L. ( Salicaceae ), Euonymus L. ( Celastraceae ), Quercus L. ( Fagaceae ), Ulmus L. ( Ulmaceae ), and Acer ginnala Maxim. (Sapindaceae) ( Cherepanov 1990a). It is worth noting that another very rare species, Exocentrus stierlini Ganglbauer, 1883 (Lamiinae) , was found sympatrically with L. okunevi on thin willow branches ( Cherepanov & Cherepanova 1975).